When NBC debuted its new reality series America’s Next Great Restaurant, gaydars went off for contestant Sandy Digiovanni. And rightfully so, Sandy says. “I’m in a plaid shirt! I’m the oldest dyke on a reality TV show!”
But since the show is about finding the next fast food chain that could rival the likes of Subway and Chipotle, there hasn’t been any talk of Sandy’s sexuality, until last week when she mentioned she once had to fire her own girlfriend.
Sandy, a 54-year-old Kansas City, Miss. native, is in the running to have her restaurant idea invested in by judges Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone and Lorena Garcia and Steve Ells (founder of Chipotle). Her concept: Sinners & Saints, a menu split down the middle with healthy fare and its devilish counterpart. This means you can get a turkey burger if you’re laying off the fat, or the real deal with all the fixings if you don’t mind clogging some arteries. So far Sandy has done well in the challenges, including establishing her menu, logo, uniforms and the overall aesthetic of Sinners & Saints. But this past week, she didn’t fare well when the judges found her burgers a little undercooked. They decided to keep Sandy on, but asked that she fire her chef.
We talked with Sandy about how she fares on this week’s episode, how well she thinks she has been represented on TV and how long that relationship lasted with the girlfriend she had to fire.
AfterEllen.com: How did you get involved with the show?
Sandy Digiovanni: Well it’s funny — last year I got this random email from NBC (which I’ve never received one before or sent), that said they were having an open casting call in Kansas City. I was changing my career, I left real-estate trying to reinvent myself and I was working on buying a food truck. I thought, “Well, OK, I will just go ahead and do this because I don’t have anything else to do today,” because I really wasn’t working. Next thing I know, I was at the open casting call and they called me a month later and then I was on a plane.
AE: I know you can’t tell us too much about it because you can’t give us spoilers, but how was your time on the show? Did think that you were represented fairly?
SD: I think that I was represented fairly at times and at times I wasn’t because it is television. I think it was an experience that I will cherish all my life and an opportunity of a lifetime to do that. Especially old lesbians asked to be on reality TV, on so many weeks on a national broadcast, which is an honor. It was definitely different living with men. I haven’t lived with men in a long time, especially a straight one. I don’t think I’ve ever lived with a straight man.
AE: [Laughs]
SD: I know why I’m a lesbian.
AE: So can you tell us the story about having to fire your girlfriend?
SD: I owned a bar back in the early 2000s and my girlfriend wanted to go to a party on a Saturday night and I said, “Well, this is your shift!” and she said, “OK” and then just didn’t show up to work and to me that’s a no call, no show and we lived together. So I get home from the bar and she gets home from the party and I asked her, “Where were you tonight?” and she said, “I told you I wanted to go to that party.” And I said “Well, I can’t have you here anymore. You’re fired.”
AE: Oh my gosh.
SD: She thought I was kidding so she showed up for her shift on Wednesday and I said “What are you doing here? I fired you.”
AE: [Laughs]
SD: We still stayed together.
AE: You did?
SD: Yep. Oh yeah, you know, I said I love you with all my heart, but business is business. What’s going to happen next Saturday when there is a party? There is going to be a party every Saturday. It was ugly for a minute but we stayed together for a little while longer.
AE: So when you got the audition for the show, did you think your being gay had anything to do with it? Or was it just because of what the show was about (creating your own restaurant)?
SD: Well that was probably because of television, because you know they always have to have someone who’s the token. Nowadays they have a token gay, a token whatever.
AE: Right.
SD: I think a little of that came into play because I never denied it in the whole interview process. Throughout all the questionnaires and stuff, I never denied it. They asked, “Are you in a relationship? Are you married?” and I said, “Yes, I have a girlfriend and I’m in a great relationship.” As a matter a fact, when I was on the show, the few times I got to call her I was being filmed and we’d tell each other we loved each other. But the whole concept, my idea, my concept was unique. It was a very unique concept, so I think it was both. I really do.
AE: Have you learned anything from the show as far as the feedback that you’ve received, that you will actually take with you to future endeavors? If you win or don’t win, was the show helpful to you?
SD: Absolutely. When you work with the best … like I said on the show, it’s a brutal business and you really do have to bring your A-game all the time. People learn from their mistakes and grow and hopefully this will bring me to a bigger arena, to bigger and better things. If anything, this has taught me it’s that I would love to have my own TV show.
AE: Really?
SD: I would love it. I wasn’t nervous on camera and I felt more in my element being on TV then I was being in the kitchen. I would love that. I’d be great at that.
AE: What kind of show? A food show? What would you like to do?
SD: Like a food show or a travel show or a talk show — a gay talk show. You know, I really would like to gear a show towards gay people to represent. There are no gay chefs on television. Well, none that I know.
AE: Only ones that appear for a season of Top Chef or something but they don’t have their own show.
SD: Right, right. It would bring us all together. Gay chefs around America.
AE: You might have to move out of Kansas City for that. Would you ever move to LA to show another show?
SD: I have no problems with that, but I would never leave Kansas City. I just would collect a lot of frequent flyer miles, I hear a lot of people do that.
AE: What does your girlfriend do? Is she into cooking or in the entertainment business?
SD: No, my girlfriend is a middle school theater teacher.
AE: Very cool.
SD: So she’s pretty much planted here and she loves what she does. She has a great creative outlet all of the time. You know I actually lived in LA for a short time with another girlfriend. I absolutely love it there, but I hate the traffic so I moved back. Well, I hated her too by then. She was a pretty local celebrity. She used to be a DJ. I thought I would always go back to LA because I made some great friendships there. I would move back permanently if I had a chauffeur.
AE: So the food truck thing is that still an idea that you’re going to explore for Kansas City?
SD: Well you know, it’s strange because food trucks have taken over the country in so many places and I don’t know if Kansas City is conducive because they have changed a lot of rules and at certain times and places we can’t be working. I think I’d have to go to a regular brick and mortar restaurant. When I went towards the food truck and I really started developing it , it turned into this lounge and all kinds of stuff because my concept really didn’t fit into that Chipotle mold. My original concept went from food truck, to brick and mortar, to fast and casual. And we’ll see what happens.
AE: As far as the other competitors, was there one that you felt like could be your new favorite restaurant? Did you love any of their ideas?
SD: I’m an Indian food fan so I would eat at the Indian place. And I love the Grill’Billies, but I want to sit down at a table to eat.
AE: One of things you said was that you’re not really photogenic but the photos turned out pretty well, don’t you think?
SD: I am really my worst critic when it comes to that. Everyone else seemed to like it but I just can’t stand to look at myself and pictures. We had professional photographers so that helped as well.
AE: Did you like how the concept came out, having made the decisions on the uniforms? Or were there TV elements where they steered you, like “Well, you should really do this instead.” Were you happy with the way things happened or did they prod you so you’d be upset at any point?
SD: Well, not during that photo shoot with the uniform or with my poster. Everything worked out beautifully that way. It was very difficult to get that kind of criticism because of the elements we were working in. We were working outside on a little grill trying to get all these hamburgers out and it was really difficult. That was the TV aspect of it because in real life you’re not going to get a hamburger that’s too raw or too well done. We were working as fast as we could and we had a very small window to prepare all this food. That’s the TV part like, “Come on guys, you know this isn’t real.”
AE: Have you seen the episodes before they air or do you watch them like everyone else when they debut on TV?
SD: I watch them just like the rest of you.
AE: Do you have any parties to gather friends and watch the show?
SD: We had a watch party for the very first one. Two hundred or 300 people showed up and it was overwhelming and I was overjoyed. And people have been asking and asking about me so it spared me to start my own website and I’m on Youtube every week. That watch party made my whole life. Go to sandyDigiovanni.com.
AE: Is there a lesbian bar in Kansas City?
SD: There used to be and I worked there for 11 years but then they decided to sell it and take on other endeavors because it was such a large club. A straight guy bought it and turned it into a straight club. Now there is only one dedicated to lesbians, and it’s a little bitty joint.
AE: What’s it called?
SD: Grandmas.
AE: Is it a cool place?
SD: Yeah, it’s got two pool tables. You know I’ve experienced bars in New York and LA and even San Francisco and the lesbian bars are just these itty-bitty holes in the walls. They’ll have promo night like Club Skirts and Girl Bar and stuff like that. We don’t have that kind stuff here although we should. But it’s enough to get your night started.
AE: Is there anything else that you’d want people to know about you?
SD: I know this week will be packed full of drama when I fire my chef. You know my chef was a lesbian, too.
AE: Cool. I didn’t know that.
SD: Yeah, my chef is a lesbian, Rachel was a lesbian. Well, she still is a lesbian.
AE: So you have to fire her this week? I think somewhere in the lesbian rulebook that is illegal.
SD: [Laughs] It was very intense and well worth watching this week.
America’s Next Great Restaurant airs Sunday nights on NBC. You can watch full episodes at NBC.com.
